Sri Lanka: Resolution 30/1 Implementation Monitor: Statistical and Analytical Review No. 5

Abstract

Resolution 30/1 was co-sponsored in 2015. It contains 36 distinct commitments that fall into five broad thematic categories: 1. Transitional justice and reconciliation 2. Rights and rule of law 3. Security and demilitarisation 4. Power sharing 5. International engagement. VR annually assessed the Sri Lankan government’s fulfilment of these 36 commitments for the past 5 years. Verité classifies progress on the fulfilment of each actionable commitment as: ‘completed’, ‘partial progress’, ‘poor progress’, or ‘no progress’. Since March 2019, the progress on four commitments under Resolution 30/1 has changed. The Sri Lankan government has fully completed only one additional commitment i.e. the commitment to establish an Office for Reparations, bringing the total number of ‘completed’ commitments ((five years after Resolution 30/1 was co-sponsored) to seven out of 36 commitments. 3 commitments saw a drop in status from ‘partial progress’ to ‘poor progress’. These down grades relate to: (1) the Cabinet decision to abandon the plan to repeal the PTA; (2) the Cabinet decision to abandon the plan to replace the PTA with anti-terrorism legislation in accordance with international best practices; and (3) the ostensible loss of momentum in investigating all alleged attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, religious minority groups and civil society members. Furthermore, some ‘completed’ commitments, however, are at risk of seeing reversals in progress. For example, the ‘completed’ status of the commitment to establish and operationalise the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is at risk of being reversed on the basis that the incumbent government has announced that it will review the OMP Act to determine if the Act or portions of the Act should be repealed.